Kate Middleton

I want to talk about Kate Middleton, because she is my fashion roll model. I look up to her and love her style. My obsession with Kate Middleton started the year I got married.  I remember seeing a picture of her on the cover of a People magazine. I just thought that she was so pretty and natural looking. She didn't look like she was trying too hard to look perfect, but she still did. I followed all of the royal wedding coverage. At the same time I was planning my own wedding. After their wedding, I watched as her style matured when she became the Dutchess of Cambridge. 

I just love how she repeats outfits and wears affordable off the rack clothes. It just shows that even though she is a royal, she is still practical. 

Lets talk about how she rewears her clothes. They call her the "Royal Recycler". I love that! I've always thought that it was so wasteful how celebrities never want to be caught in the same outfit twice. I mean, they spend thousands of dollars on their clothes and they wear it once and never again. If the Duchess of Cambridge can rewear a dress and be photographed in it more then once, then anyone should be able to wear the same outfit twice.

Here are some examples of some of my favorite looks. I love what she wears when she's dressed up and when she's casual.

Now, I don't live in England and I'm not a royal, so of course I'm not going to copy her outfits exactly. I have to wear things that fit into my lifestyle that I can afford. So, I modify a lot when I'm putting a look together.

Here is me recreating the look she wore home from the hospital after they announced she was pregnant with Prince George. It's so simple, yet so polished. I wore a black trench coat over a grey sweater dress. black flat boots, black tights and a silver scarf.

Here are a few more inspired looks with clothes from my own closet. 

Grey sweater dress, black tights and black patten leather pumps. I put my beige trench coat over it to give it that Kate look. 

This jacket is a hand me down from my mom. It's a Banana Republic wool jacket. I haven't worn it yet, but I thought it looked like something Kate might wear. I tried it out with my skinny jeans, a brown belt and a stripe white and navy shirt. I tried the look with brown boots and wedges.

Same jacket as above. This time, I wore black jeggings, brown belt, a green polka-dot blouse and black sling back pumps. 

Black tank top, black blazer, white pants, brown belt, pink and grey scarf, with black sling back pumps. 

I feel like as I go through life, Kate Middleton and I will always be at similar stages. I will always be able to look to her, to guild me in my style. Kate Middleton inspires me to look my best and stay natural.

Plan Before you Buy

Like I have said before, it is not always easy to go shopping on a small budget. It takes a lot of discipline. One thing that I find helpful, is to plan ahead before I buy. I like to do my research first and find items that I will actually get good use out of. I try to keep an ongoing list of items that I want to buy eventually. Sometimes my list changes, but I usually keep it on hand with me at all times. This way I know what I'm looking for. I try not to buy things I don't need. Having a list helps me avoid buyers remorse. 

I start my research by looking on Pinterest. Pinterest is a great way to keep up with the latest fashion trends. I pin looks that I think are cute and I would actually wear, but a lot of times the clothes I pin are too expensive for my budget. What I like to do is keep an eye out for cheaper options. I usually look around on the internet first to price things out. I don't usually buy online, because I prefer to see it in person. I like to try things on and touch it before I buy it, but that's just me. After I have an idea of how much I want to pay for something, then I can look in the stores. Sometimes I can find something right away, other times it takes me months. It took me all summer to finally find a maxi skirt that I liked.

Here is an example of how I used a Pinterest idea and found an affordable option...

I am obsessed with Tory Burch flats. They're so cute for everyday shoes. Well, I can't spend $200 on a pair of flats. So, I had to keep my eyes opened for something similar, that was also affordable. I got lucky. At DSW, I found a pair of Audrey Brooke flats. They look very similar to the Tory Burch flats I wanted. They were originally sold for $100 at the department store, but at DSW they were marked at $59.95. Well, I found them on the clearance rack for 40% off. I also used a coupon and ended up paying $32.83 with tax. I wear them all the time and love them! No buyers remorse here!

My Closet~ What I Wore Wednesday

I thought it would be fun to start a "what I wore" weekly blog post. Wednesday, as we all know, is the middle of the week. It's the day that makes us believe the weekend is right around the corner. You need to keep the week going strong and what better way to do that than putting a cute outfit together. 

I think that looking good and feeling good go hand and hand. I've had those mornings, like everyone else, where I just don't care. I just want to make it through the day, so I throw my barely dry hair up in a ponytail, put on whatever I pull from my drawer and do the bare minimum makeup. In the past, when I have done this my day ends up going the same way it started. I end up not caring and not doing the best job I can do at work. I spend 40+ hours a week at my job. That's a lot of time and I want to feel good when I'm there. I want to feel confident and professional. Honestly, I think the way you present yourself reflects on the kind of person you are. Especially in the work place, no matter where you work. Would you not care about your appearance when you go to a job interview? 

 Trust me, I don't have a very glamorous job. I am an infant teacher at a child care center, so finding something to wear to work involves, finding something that's appropriate, cute, comfortable and something I don't mind getting the occasional spit up on. That's not going to stop me from putting together something cute.

So here is my Wednesday outfit. The dress code at my work is no jeans except for Fridays.

 

Grey khaki- Old Navy

Black long sleeve shirt- Old Navy

Pink and grey infinity scarf- Five Below

 Black flats- Target 

  It's casual, comfortable and of course affordable. I make sure to designated my work clothes as "work only" clothes. This means I can wear them around babies, without being afraid to get paint, baby food or anything else that might come out of my little friends. 

I hope to keep up with this post and continue to find cute work outfits to share.

Happy Wednesday! Friday is almost here!

Cheap Beauty Products

In all the ways that I try to save money, I have to say beauty products are the most important thing to save on. I'm a girl, so I have a lot of beauty products. Everything from hair products, to makeup, to skin care. Girls need a lot to look as good as we do. My husband can hop out of the shower, brush his teeth , through on some clothes and look great. For me, even when just heading to the grocery store or going to work out, it's a process to get ready. I'm sure many women have this feeling. Having beauty products is very important. Now, because of my need of all these things products, I try to keep the price down. I mostly stick to brands that can be found at any drug store. There are actually a lot of great affordable products out there to try. Some are even better then you might think.

Here are a few of my favorite products that I picked up on a trip to one of my favorite store, where else, but Target.
  

NYC- In a New York Color Minute Nail Polish- I've tried all types of nail polish and I have to say this polish is one of my favorites. It's great because it dries quickly and the polish last a decent amount of time before chipping. Quick dry nail polish is my favorite, because it leaves you with less time to mess up your nails while drying. This polish is also a great buy! I usually spend about $1.75 at Target for this. Since I don't spend money on manicures, this polish really helps me keep my nails looking great.

Elf Eyelid Primer- About a month ago I realized that I was missing something in my makeup collection. I needed eye primer. I really had never thought of it before. It wasn't until I was looking at makeup tutorials on Pinterest that I realized I needed some eye primer. This is a product that I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money on. I mean, it's eye primer, it goes under the pretty eye shadow. Luckily Elf  Makeup has an eye primer. It's only $1 at Target. I have found that I really like using this product. I use it everyday under my eye shadow and I have noticed that my eye makeup is lasting longer. It definitely gets the  job done and is extremely affordable!

Up&Up Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes-  I love these towelettes for removing my makeup at the end of the day. They leave my face feeling refreshed. I've tried other brands and don't like them as much as the target brand. I've also found that it is way cheaper to buy the travel packs. It coast $.99 for a 10 pack. When you buy a 30 pack you will pay closer to $4 for the pack. Buying them in the 10 packs is also better because they stay fresh longer. Once the pack is opened, it might be harder to seal back up the longer you use the pack. Sometimes the towelettes can get dried out and not work as well. I recommend going with the travel size.

If your looking to save money on your usual beauty products I urge you to try these out. You will be able to put more money into your pocket and you'll still have a bathroom full of beauty products you love.

Contentment

This blog is not only about shopping and clothes. The real reason why I started to write this blog was because I was struggling with contentment in my life. I think that it's safe for me to say that I'm not alone on this. Life can get frustrating sometimes. I think most people get that feeling that they want more than what they have.

 I feel that contentment really is the first step to saving money. So many people feel that buying things will make them happy. Yes, I agree. I am happy when I get something new, but it's not true happiness. The happy feeling wears off and then you feel that you need to go buy more. I think many people struggle with this, including myself. One thing that I have learned in the past few years is that I don't need to spend money to be happy. You don't need a big house or new car or most expensive shoes or dress to make you happy. You first need to step back and look at what you do have and work with that. 

One of my favorite shows of all time is Sex and the City. I always remembered this quote of Carrie's...

"maybe the best any of us can do is not quit, play the hand we've been dealt, and accessorize the outfit we've got." 

 Maybe you haven't found the love of your life yet, the perfect job or your not the size you want to be. Buying things is not going to fix that. Take a step back and look at what you do have, what your good at. Set some goals for yourself and see where it can take you.